Cloth finishing



S. L; CLUETT CLOTH FINISHING April 14, 1936.

` Filed Aug. 15, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 NNN April 14, 1936. s. L.. CLUETTCLOTH FINISHING Filed Aug. 15, 1932 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 .Ill Wnljafl///a/Z. W

April 14, 1936. sfl.. cLUETT CLOTH FINISHING Filed Aug. 15, 1932 v 6Shets-Sheet 5 April 14,v 1936. s. L. cLuETT CLOTH FINISHING Filed Aug.l5, 1952 6 Sheets-Shea?l 4 Apri114,1936. s, -CLUETT f 2,037,676

CLOTH FINISHING April 14, 1936.

S. L. CLUETT' CLOTH FINISHING Filed Aug. 15, 1952 r Il (Ill [III IIIHHIllllllll I'I Patented Apr. 14, 1936 UNITED STATE-s PATENT OFFICE CLTHFINISHING Sanford L. Cluett, Troy, N. Y., assigner to Cluett, Peabody &Co., Inc., Troy, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 15,1932, sei-iai No. 628,852

s claims.: (ci. 264-38) May 31,v 1932. The rst of said patentsdiscloses.

a tentering machine adapted to shrinkcloth in length by stretchingit-in` width. As a substitute for or supplement to such mechanism thereis disclosed in the second of said patents a method of cloth shrinkingespecially adapted to beipracticed in conjunction with ironing a web ofcloth. The third of said patents discloses a combination of themechanisms andprocesses of the first two of said patents, into acombined mechanism and process coextensive with the tentering andironing steps of cloth finishing and involving a multi-stage shrinkingoperation adjustable in regard to proportion of lengthwise and'widthwiseshrinkage. The present invention will be describedin connection with themechanism of said patents, although capable of wider application totentering and ironing machines 'of other kinds.

The present invention has'for one of its objects to provide incombination with cloth nnishing mechanism, devices adapted to provideeasy, quick and accurate adjustment of the percentage of shrinkageimparted to the cloth. The invention particularly aims successfully toaccomplish this object in finishing machinery in which the cloth issubjected to serial operations which effect the ultimate length of thecloth in different ways, and is especially useful in regulating thefunctions of 'a' complicated series of cloth finishing mechanisms insuch a way as to facilitate maintaining the mechanisms in the desiredadjustment to produce any desired shrinkage effect within the capacityof the machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide automatic means forcontrol of the cloth passing from a tentering machine into an ironingmachine.

The invention will now be described by reference toa specific instancethereof, explained by way of example in this specification, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a series of cloth finishinginstrumentalities in vwhich the cloth is subjected to shrinkage; I

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the entering end of tenteringmachine at the right of Fig. 1,;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side e1evation,\with certain parts' omitted,showing the exit end of the tenter and the mechanism governing the rateof travel of the tentered cloth to the ironing mechanism; Y

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, showingan adjustable geared coupling between the main driveshaft of the ma- 5chine and the feed mechanism for the'tenter;

- Fig. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal section on' the line 5-5 of Fig. 4,showing particularly the driving connection to the rotatable set ofgears of the adjustable geared coupling of Fig. 4;

Fig. 5' is a fragmentary radial sectional view ofthe rotatable set ofgears of Fig. 5;

Fig.v 6 is a fragmentary vertical section on the line 6-'6 of Fig. 5;y

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view, partly in per- 15 spective, showing thefeed rolls and regulating mechanism of Fig. 3 together with anautomatically-variable drive connection to said rolls;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary plan view of the automatically-variable driveconnection of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a side view, taken on the opposite side of the machine fromFig. 1, showing the ironing mechanism of that figure, parts being brokenaway and the adjustable geared coupling between the drive shaft of themachine and the drive of the ironing machine being shown in verticalsection;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary plan view of the portion of the apparatus ofFig. 9 which includes the adjustable geared coupling of that ligure;xFig. 11 is a vertical-section on the line Ii-II of Fig. 10: and

Fig. 12 is-a side elevation similar in point of view to Fig. 9, showingthe exterior of the casing of the adjustable geared couplingl of Fig. 9.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 the illustrative combination of clothfinishing devices includes a tentering machine 20, having diverging runsof fabric web edge grasping devices such as pins 2l adapted to stretchthe fabric in width dur- 40 ing lengthwise travel. The tentering machinepreferably also includes such adjuncts as spray nozzles 22, 23 adaptedto moisten the fabric during stretching, and an air drier 24 and heatingcoils 26, adapted to dry the fabric to set it in its tentered condition.A suitable motor 3| is connected to advance the web edge holding devices2|.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 3, the motor 3|- may for example be connectedto a variable speed drive such as a Reeves drive 3l* which in turndrives a tenter cross-shaftA 3l". Suitable gearing may be employed toconnect this cross-shaft to the sprocket wheels 3I of which one is showninFig. 3 for driving the chains which carry the 55- pins 2| or analogousweb-edge holding devices, the means for driving these latter being ofany desired construction.

When stretched widthwise by these devices the moistened fabric iswidened and is subject to rearrangement of its constituent yarns, as aresult of greater tension in the wefts .than in the Warps. To causelengthwise shortening of the fabric during such rearrangement it ispreferred to provide for relaxation of the fabric lengthwise thuscausing the warps to assume a more sinuous configuration about thetensioned wefts and thereby shorten the total length of the web. To thisend, the device preferably includes means for applying the cloth to theweb-edge holding devices in a lengthwise slack condition, and in theillustrated tentering machine wherein these web edge holding devicesconstitute pins, the cloth is preferably drawn thereto at an angle fromfeed rolls 32, 33, and impaled thereon by primary and secondary impalingbrushes 34 and 35, (Fig. 2). Feed rolls 32, 33 are conveniently mountedin suitable bearings in standards 31 at the end of the tenter frame, andthe lower roll 33 is so located that the inclined cloth passing onto thepins supports the primary impaling brush 34. yBrush 34 is verticallyresponsive to this inclined cloth approaching the pins, so that theangle at which the cloth is impaled, and hence the slack cloth betweeneach pin depends upon the rate at which the cloth is allowed to pass bythe rolls 32, 33. Cloth may be allowed to pass at such a slow rate bythese rolls as to remain in a taut condition after impalement, whereuponsubstantially no lengthwise take-up occurs during weftwise stretching;or cloth may be allowed to pass at varying higher rates so as to havevarying degrees of lengthwise slack after impalement whereupon lthecloth takes up longitudinally during weftwise stretching. The practicaleffect desired and attained is that, within a limit, cloth fed by thefeed rolls 32, 33 will be reduced in length in the tenter by whateverratio the rate of feeding by the rolls 32, 33 exceeds the rate of travelof the tenter pins o other web edge holding devices.

It will now readily appear that the tentering machine provides forstretching the cloth to a predetermined and desired width and further iscapable of effecting various degrees of lengthwise shrinking from zeroup to the capacity of the machine to receive lengthwise slack; thereforethat Within limits this mechanism provides when desired the capabilityof delivering cloth of constant width and of varying length incomparison to its original length.

Passing to the delivery end of the tentering machine 20, the cloth isdoifed by any suitable meansisuch as the wheel 39, and passes aroundidler rolls 40 and 4| to a second pair of feed rolls 42, 43.

I'he apparatus preferably includes means for securing a spontaneousshrinkage of the cloth in weft or in both warp and weft at this stage oftreatment. To this end the apparatus preferably includes a moisteningchamber 46 in which moistening devices 41 and 48 act on the passingcloth.

The cloth may then pass around idler rolls 49, 49 and adjustableexpander rolls 56 which latter may be used as desired or necessary tosmooth the cloth widthwise or even tostretch it if complete preshrinkageweftwise is not desired.

From thence the cloth passes to any suitable drying and ironing device.Preferably such drying and ironing d'evice is of a constructionutilizing the principle disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,861,422,according to which the cloth,

confined to a contracting belt surface, is comy pressed longitudinallyto a shorter dimension. The drying and ironing machine 5|)E (Fig. 1) maytherefore include a large rotary drying drum 5I, an endless travelingband of substantial thickness 52 running on the drum, and suitablerollers 53 and a supplemental drying drum 54 all adapted to constrainthe band 52 to an endless course of travel about the drum 5| in thedirections of the arrows a. The roller 53 at the point where the band 52runs onto the drum preferably is' arranged to nip the band against thedrum at this point, and is preferably provided with a series of heatedpressure irons 56 as disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,861,424 forthe purpose of confining the entering cloth between the expanded beltsurface on the roller and maintaining such pressure-confinement untilthe band reverses its curvature in passing onto the drum 5|.

With the drying and ironing apparatus thus constructed to shrink thecloth, the shrinkage obtained therein will occur in the length of thecloth and be dependent upon the thickness of the particular band 52employed.

It will now appear that the described apparatus in one aspect involvessubjecting the cloth to spontaneous moisture shrinkage (due to thevarious water sprays) and to stretching in width (in the tenteringmachine and by the expander rolls 50), followed by drying and ironing,with all of said operations taking place during length- Wise travel ofthe cloth. In order tovpredetermine and regulate accurately the extentto which cloth will be shrunk by such treatment, the present inventionprovides a positive geared connection between the intake feed rolls 32,33 and the rotating drying drum 5| including a gear set having a seriesof gears of varying diameter providing for quick change from onepositive geared connection to others of slightly different speed ratio.Although one such gear set could be used to advantage, the entireapparatus herein described preferably includes two such gear sets,either of which may be actuated to change the gear ratio between thefeed rolls 32, 33 and dryer drum 5| It is preferable that each such gearset be capable of altering the speed ratio in a plurality of steps eachequivalent to a shrinkage of approximately one quarter inch per yardoccurring between the feed rolls 32, 33 and the drying drum 5|. In thispreferred form of the invention wherein either or both of two gear setsmay be adjusted to provide the desired shrinkage ratio, one gear set ispreferably at each end ci' the machine, for ready access to theoperator.

Running the entire length of the machine there is preferably provided amain drive shaft 3D, and when the tentering machine is driven as abovedescribed, this main shaft can be most conveniently driven by bevelgears 30a and 3|)b from the driven cross-shaft 3| b of the tenteringmachine. Thus `the main drive shaft 30 always bears a constant ratio tothe speed of the tenter pins 2 I, and is itself of constant speed unlessthe Reeves drive 3| is adjusted to alter the speed of the entireapparatus.

Referring to Fig. 2, the intake feed rolls 32, 33 carry bevel gears 62,63 respectively meshing with bevel gears 64, 65 which are fast on ashaft 61 which constitutes a driving connection for both feed rolls 32,38. The main drive shaft 30 carries ammore near' its end a gear 43(Figs. 4 and 6)'meshing with a larger gear 10 which is preferably thedriven by the main shaft 30 and constituted of a plurality of gearelements of successively larger diameter. Preferably, in order toprovide for adjusting the speed of the cloth in steps corresponding toshrinkages of .approximately one quarter inch per yard, the smallestgear 10 has 144 teeth,y the next gear 1| has 145 teeth, and so on byarithmetical progression. A splined shaftl 80* (Figs. 4, 5 and 6) hasrotatably mounted thereon a slider 8|I carrying an idler gear82l adaptedto mesh with any of the gears 10 to 84, and another similar gear 83nmeshing with idler gear 82* and keyed to shaft 80' with a slidingkey.Shaft 80', in turn is geared to another shaft 88 (Fig. 2) byintermeshing gears 81 and 88, and shaft 88 is geared to vertical shaft61 by bevel gears 91 and 92 (Fig. 2). Preferably a handle on theslider8i carries a retractable pin |02 (Fig. 6) adapted to engage in anyone of a plurality of holes |03 (Fig. l2) corresponding to the y the webedge holding devices oi' the tentering machine (by engaging gear 82El onthe slider with gear 10 of the gear set), or at the ratio of 36% inches,361/2 inches, 363/4 inches, etc., per 36 inches of travel of the tenterpins, or at other series of ratio depending upon the speed ratioadopted.

The slider 8|*l preferably carries a pointer |05 (Figs. 2 and 6) adaptedto cooperate with a scale |08 marked in numerals indicating the amountof excess cloth fed per yard of travel of the tenterI pins. Assumingthat the gear set is adjusted to feed an excess of cloth amounting toone inch per yard, the effect of the moistening and widthwise stretchingoperations will be tol shrink the cloth the amount of such excess.

It will be observed that the described gear set insures that a positivegeared ratio will exist between the tentering machine speed and thespeed of the feed rolls, but enables such ratio to be changed instantlyto any one* of the fourteen graduated ratios provided. Furthermoreaccurate setting of this ratio is assured by the fact that theA feedrolls are not driven until the idler gear 82 is meshed with one of thelarge gears 10s-84, so that it isinsured that the machine lwill not beleft running with some unknown or to control the net amount of shrinkageto be obof this clutch is keyed to a longitudinal shaft I8 and adaptedto be thrown into and out of engagement by means of a suitable clutchlever ||8. Referring to Figs. 9, 10 and 11, the shaft I8 has rotatablymounted thereon a slider I2 I carrying a gear |22 keyed to splinedshaftll8 by a sliding key and meshing with an idler gear |23. As in thecase of the gear set at the entering endof the machine the gear setincludes a stepped series of gears, herein indicated by the referencecharacters |38 to |40, (Fig. 9) and which may be constructed ofindividual gear rings in a manner similar to the construction shown inFig. e. In the present case however the composite gear member comprisedof the several rings is fast on a shaft |43, which acts through bevelgears |50, |5|, shaft |52, gear |53 and large ring gear |54, to drivethe drier drum 5|, as indicated in Fig. 10.

The slider |2| preferably carries a handle portion |51 having thereon aretractable pin |58 (Fig` 11) adapted to engage in any one of aplurality of holes (Fig. 12) corresponding to the respective gears |30to |40.

In thecase of the gear set at the drying and ironing end of the machine,it is desirable to provide for so adjusting the speed ratio between thedrier drum and main shaft as to cause the surface speed of the drierdrum either to be the same as, less than, or greater than the speed oftravel of the cloth in the tentering machine, and to provide adjustmentsin increments of 1A inch per yard both above and below the speed of theedge holding' devices of the tentering machine, Accordingly inthepresent illustration, gear |38 of the set may for example have 144teeth, and when meshed with idler |23 cause drum 5| to travel at thesame speed as the tenter pins 2|, while those gears to the left of gear|30 in Fig. 9 may be successively smaller by one tooth each (to provideincrementally higher speeds of the drum 5|) and those teeth to the rightof gear |38 may be successively larger by one tooth each (to provideincrementally lower speeds'of the drum 5|). The scale |80, with whichthe pointer IGI is adapted to cooperate may thus be marked with zeroopposite the gear |38, and with indications, each varying by V4 inch oneither side of such zero-mark, and corresponding to the respective gearelements on either side of the gear |38.

As illustrative of the use of the gear set at l the drier end of themachine, if the idler gear |23 is engaged with the appropriate gearelement so as to cause the pointer |6| to indicate 1 inch per yard, itwill be assured that for every 36 inches oi' cloth delivered by thetentering machine, 35 inches of cloth will be delivered by the drierdrum; further that if the gear set at the intake rolls is adjusted at1/2 inch, the shrinkage experienced by the cloth between the intakerolls 32, 33 and the drier drum 5| will be almost exactly 1% inches peryard. Thus it will be observed that the present invention renderspossible maintaining an accurate geared relation between the intake anddelivery elements of the mechanism within which shrinkage occurs; thatthe` ratio can quickly and readily be adjusted by a simple manipulationof gears; that the exact amount of shrinkage will readily be apparentfrom the pointers |05 and |6I, that there is no danger ofthe machinebeing operated at any but certain Vpredetermined shrinkage ratioscorresponding to the gear ratios determined by the respective gearteeth, and that the shrinkage indications by the 'pointers |05 and |6|are accurate notwithstanding wear of the driving connections.

It has been described how the fabric is doifed from the tenteringmachine and passed around idler rolls 40 and 4| to feed rolls 42 and 43.One important function of these feed rolls 42, 43 is to convey the clothaway from the tentering machine while holding the fabric against thepull from the drying drum 5| so that the fabric may come oil? thetentering machine under a miniminn of tension. It will be understoodthat the fabric treating apparatus to the left of the feed rolls 42, 43in Fig. 1 may exert a shrinking effect both by virtue of the contractionoi' the surface of belt 52 in passing onto drum 5| and also by virtue ofthe shrinking action of the sprays 41 and 48; this shrinking eifect maybe counter-balanced to any desired degree by control of the tensionexisting in the region between the drying drum 5\| and tentering machine20. The present invention aims to provide for controlling the tensionexisting in this region by automatic means controlled by the clothcoming from the tentering'machine. Means is therefore provided forautomatically increasing or decreasing the speed of the conveyingrollers 42, 43 in response to the occurrence of faster and slowerdelivery ofthe web from the tentering machine. It will be apparent thatfabric may come from the tentering machine in different conditions oflengthwise shrinkage or stretch depending upon previous treatment of theweb and the adjustment of the feed rolls of the tentering machine, thusresulting in somewhat varying rates of delivery of the fabric from thetentering machine; the means now to be described acts to compensate forsuch variations in delivery. Preferably the idler roll 4| is rotatablymounted at its ends in sliding blocks |10, of which one is shown in Fig.3, each of these blocks being mounted for vertical movement in aguideway |1|, the blocks |10 and idler roll 4| being almost entirelycounterbalanced by weights |12. Thus the idler roll 4| rests onlylightly upon the fabric web and is quickly responsive to increase ordecrease n rate of delivery of the fabric from the tentering machine.Chains |14, connecting the sliding blocks |10 and the counterbalanceweights |12, pass over sprocket wheels which are fast.

on a cross shaft |16. Mounted on one end of this shaft |16 is provided apulley |11 (Fig. '1) which thus turns in accordance with increase ordecrease of rate of delivery of fabric from the tentering machine. Theconveying feed rolls 42, 43 are preferably driven by suitable gear andchain connections as indicated in Fig. '1 from the driving sprocket |89of a Reeves variable speed drive |90. The driven sprocket |9| of thisvariable speed drive is preferably suitably driven by a chain |93 andsprocket |94 from the main drive shaft 30 of the machine. As is wellknown this Reeves variable speed drive can be adjusted to alter theratio between its driven and driving sprockets by rotation of anadjusting pulley, indicated herewith by the reference character |95. Asuitable belt |96, passing around pulleys |91 and |98, is arranged toconnect this pulley |95 and the previously described pulley |11. As aresult, if the rate of delivery of fabric by the tentering machine issuch that an excess of fabric begins to accumulate in rear of theconveying rolls 42, 43, the idler roll 4| drops slightly, and theconnections therefrom to the Reeves drive operate to increase thedriving speed of the conveying rolls 42, 43; likewise decrease in thefabric between the tentering machine and the rolls 42, 43 results in aslowing down of these rolls.

aosaeve -A further and .desirable eiect of the above automaticcontrolling means may now be considered. Having 'in mind that it isdesired that the action of the devices to the left of the exit end ofthe tentering machine shall have the capacity of the shrinking fabric toa considerable extent, it will readily appear that the maximum shrinkagecapacity of these devices may be greater than required for certain kindsof fabric.

The conveying rolls 42, 43 may, therefore in some cases, act tostretchthe fabric in length, thus partially or even wholly offsettingthe shrinking effect of the devices to their left. The positive drivingconnections between the entering feed rolls 32, 33 at the right of themachine and the rotating drying drum 5| accurately predetermine and fixthe total longitudinal effect of the machine upon the fabric. Nowassuming that for any reason the cloth delivered by the tenteringmachine varies in regard to its lengthwise condition, becoming slightlyless shrunken or more nearly stretched; the idler roll will under theseconditions drop slightly, speeding up the conveying rolls 42, 43,diminishing accordingly the subsequent stretching effect, thusautomatically compensating for variation in action of the tenteringmachine without changing the net shrinking effect as predetermined bythe positive drive connections and changeable gear sets of the machine.

Further it may be noted that certain adjustments of the changeable gearsat the entering end of the tentering machine may result in cloth beingsubstantially taut lengthwise when it is doifed from the web-edgeholding devices of the tentering machine, while with certain otheradjustments of these changeable gears the cloth may be quite slack whendoed. The automatically controlled conveying rolls 42, 43 insure thatthe fabric will be conveyed away at the appropriate rate in either case.

From the foregoing, i-t will be apparent that in the illustrated exampleof the invention, the

closure is for the purpose of illustration only andl that this inventionincludes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scopeof the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A cloth finishing machine including means for mechanically shrinkinga web of cloth in length, said shrinking means including a cylinder anda blanket having a cloth-engaging surface adapted to contract in rimningonto the cylinder, mechanism which controls the travel of the web at apoint in advance of the cylinder, and a positive driving connectionbetween the cylinder and the web-controlling mechanism includingchangeable intermeshing gears adapted to permit change of the speedratio between the cylinder and web-controlling mechanism, whereby toprovide continual exactness of the selected ratio between the linearquantity of cloth delivered by the apparatus and the linear quantity ofcloth entering the apparatus.

2. A machine for finishing a cloth web, including a rotary drying andironing cylinder and an endless blanket running thereon, mechanism whichcontrols the travel of the web at a point in advance of the cylinder,and a positive driving connection between the cylinder and thewebcontrolling mechanism including changeable intermeshing gears-adapted to permit change of the speed ratio between the cylinder andwebcontrolling mechanism, whereby to provide continual exactness of theselected ratio between the linear quantity of cloth delivered by theapparatus and the linear quantity of cloth entering the apparatus.

3. A machine for finishing .a cloth web, including a rotary drying andironing cylinder and an endless blanket running thereon, mechanism whichcontrols theitravel of the web at another location in its travel, and apositive driving connection between the cylinder and the web-controllingmechanism including changeable intermeshing gears adapted to permit'change of the speed ratio between the cylinder and web-controllingmechanism, whereby to provide continual exactness or the selected ratiobetween the linear quantity of cloth delivered by the apparatus and thelinear quantity oi cloth entering the apparatus. 1

4. Cloth finishing mechanism including a. tentering machine and a dryingand ironing machine, positive driving connections interconnecting saidmachines, means for altering the speed ratio between the rates of travelof cloth in said machines, and means adapted to grasp the cloth forcontrolling the rate of travel of the cloth at a point between saidtentering machine and said drying and ironing machine, said controllingmeans thereby being adapted to stretch the cloth extending between itand the drying and ironing machine, and means automatically responsiveto the rate of delivery of cloth from the tentering machine forregulating said controlling means to prevent excess tension in the clothcoming from the tentering machine.

5. Cloth i'lnishing mechanism including a tentering machine and a dryingand ironing machine arranged to receive the cloth from the tenteringmachine, driving connections interconnecting said machines, meansadapted to grasp the cloth at a point between said tentering machine andsaid drying and ironing machine for controlling the rate of travel -ofthe cloth at said point, said controlling means being adapted to stretchthe cloth running from it to the drying and ironing machine, and meansautomatically responsive to the rate of deliveryof cloth from thetentering machine for regulating said controlling means to preventexcess tension in the cloth coming from the tentering machine to thesaid controlling means.

sANFoRp L. CLUETIV.

